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George Soros backs Guatemalan president's call to end war on drugs
Source: The Guardian
George Soros backs Guatemalan president's call to end war on drugs
Graeme Wearden in Davos
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 23 January 2013 17.53 GMT
George Soros has thrown his support behind the president of Guatemala's efforts to end the war on drugs.
Soros, who is best know for leading a run on the pound in 1992 that forced the UK out of the European exchange rate mechanism, said at the World Economic Forum in Davos that world leaders had their best chance in at least two decades to rethink their approach to drugs.
"Drug policy has endangered political stability and security in many countries, and not just in Latin America," he said, citing Mali as one of several African countries to suffer.
Soros told a press conference that austerity was encouraging politicians, even in the US, to rethink the war on drugs. "Incarceration is hugely expensive … The cost of alternatives is smaller than the cost of incarceration," he said.
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Graeme Wearden in Davos
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 23 January 2013 17.53 GMT
George Soros has thrown his support behind the president of Guatemala's efforts to end the war on drugs.
Soros, who is best know for leading a run on the pound in 1992 that forced the UK out of the European exchange rate mechanism, said at the World Economic Forum in Davos that world leaders had their best chance in at least two decades to rethink their approach to drugs.
"Drug policy has endangered political stability and security in many countries, and not just in Latin America," he said, citing Mali as one of several African countries to suffer.
Soros told a press conference that austerity was encouraging politicians, even in the US, to rethink the war on drugs. "Incarceration is hugely expensive … The cost of alternatives is smaller than the cost of incarceration," he said.
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Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2013/jan/23/george-soros-guatemala-war-on-drugs